Cut our emissions from travel
In Short
To cut our emissions from transport, we need to:
- Reduce the need to travel – this means maximising locally available facilities and services, as well as digital infrastructure. Careful consideration around creating highly connected, walkable neighbourhoods is essential
- Switch to more sustainable travel options – prioritise walking, cycling and shared transport first, and optimise logistics for commercial transport
- Shift to lower emission vehicles such as electric cars and buses and in the commercial sector, develop the market for alternative fuels
The Full
Story
The carbon emissions from our cars, vans and HGVs are responsible for almost a third of Plymouth’s carbon footprint. We drove in Plymouth 689 million miles in 2021!* To get to net zero, we need to cut that down by at least another 36 million miles.* It sounds a lot, but most of our journeys are relatively short. 71% of trips are under 5 miles and 50% of car trips are less than 2 miles!
To cut down emissions from travel, we need to rethink our journeys and consider what switches we can make. The low carbon travel triangle helps us see travel choices in order of lowest carbon first.
The Low Carbon Travel Triangle
Did you know, there’ll be no new diesel or petrol cars or vans sold in this country from 2035?
To help us make these switches we must think about creating the right conditions to make it possible, accepting that not everyone will be able to switch, of course. We need appropriate infrastructure to make safe and comfortable walking and cycling journeys. We need shops and facilities within easy walking distance of where we live. We need access to reliable and affordable public transport, which connects us to our friends, family and workplaces. And we need our employers to support us in making sustainable travel choices at work.
For commercial transport, we must shift to lower emission vehicles, optimise logistics through collaboration and technology improvements, implement clean last mile logistics such as electric vans and electric cargo bike services for inner city deliveries.
Source
* Plymouth Greenhouse Gas Reporting and Monitoring 2022, University of Exeter. See the report here
Take action now
See ActionsINDIVIDUALS
Our actions matter. If each one of us makes just one switch, that’s 264,700 switches in Plymouth. Will you make a switch?
The easiest journeys to switch are those that are shorter (like popping to the shops or doing the school run) and those that are planned and recurring (going to work or to a regular club, for example.) Consider which journeys you could feasibly and affordably switch?
Key Steps
- Could you walk, cycle or scoot to school?
- Could you cycle to work or use public transport?
- How about car sharing to go to the gym or club?
- Will you try an EV car club, or work with your neighbours to get one off the ground?
You Are More Likely to Change a Habit if You:
- Start small (switch just one journey first, or one part of a journey)
- Make a commitment to it and write it down!
- Tell people that’s what you’re doing and why
- Get a group together to commit to it or join a community group (car sharing is great for sports and keeping motivated)
- Reward yourself for making the switch
- Think about the low carbon travel triangle in all your journeys
ORGANISATIONS
Organisations have significant influence over the city’s transport emissions. From procurement to logistics and empowering employees to travel sustainably, Plymouth’s organisations (large and small) have the power to make the difference.
Key Steps
- Change culture and policies to favour low carbon travel and working practices (for employees and customers) in a way that also safeguards their wellbeing
- Use procurement power to encourage low carbon transport practice
- Offer reliable digital and technical solutions so people can work from home effectively
- Promote and support the Cycle to Work Scheme
- Provide showering and changing facilities for walkers, wheelers and cyclers
- Provide clean and secure storage for bikes that can be accessed safely in and outside of daylight hours (for employees and customers)
- Incentivise cycling for work purposes by offering pool bikes and a cycle mileage scheme
- Create or provide access to EV charging facilities (for employees and customers)
- Provide an EV pool car or corporate access to an EV car club or e bikes
- Switch your fleet to EV or alternative low carbon fuel source, including low carbon HGV options
- Choose low carbon logistics services such as Zedify, and adopt last mile low carbon technology
- Encourage car sharing by offering a dedicated scheme (Try Car Share Devon)
Service Providers
Providers of travel services and policy makers shape the choices that Plymothians make every day.
Key Steps
- Make good decisions on where to locate development and facilities so that zero and low carbon transport options are more viable and attractive
- Work in partnership to make all of the elements of the city’s transport system interact well together, including park and ride, public transport, walking and cycling options and parking policy
- Apply the healthy streets principle to the public realm to create attractive, safe and well connected environments for pedestrians and cyclists of all ages
- Provide more and safer facilities for walking and cycling, including new and improved routes to key destinations and accessible, secure cycle storage options at key destinations and transport hubs
- Prioritise pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users in the design of infrastructure
- Provide bus services that are frequent, comprehensive, reliable, inclusive, better to ride in, easier to use and cheaper for everyone and integrated with other mobility services such as park and ride, rail, ferry and cycling through new mobility hubs
- Work together to transition to low carbon fuels for buses, coaches, trains, and ferries and other marine transport, and put in place the Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points and power infrastructure they need
- Improve Plymouth’s rail network resilience, capacity and connectivity across the travel to work area, such as reconnecting Tavistock with the national rail network at Plymouth
- Have a clear strategy for EV charge points to promote the uptake of electric vehicles so that no one has to miss out, including establishing charging hubs at key destinations and on-street provision, as well as considering EV users in parking policy and infrastructure projects
- Increase access to electric vehicles through car clubs and e-bike rental services
- Deliver EV charging infrastructure in all new development
- Promote and incentivise low carbon travel for tourists
- Consider how public parking, employee parking and highways management policies can be used to incentivise the use of low carbon travel options
- Address pinch points on the network to reduce congestion hotspots and idling which concentrates emissions in small areas
- With partners, consider innovative solutions to reduce emissions from freight movement, such as an ‘urban consolidation centre’ where goods shipments are combined into fewer deliveries or providing a facility that enables transhipment of goods between rail and road
- Where road infrastructure is needed, maximise sustainable measures and carbon sequestration opportunities through tree planting, sustainable drainage and living roofs / walls
What progress has been made?
See progressWhat progress are we making?
There was a particularly sharp decline in greenhouse gases produced by the transport sector, 20% in fact, from 2019 to 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions.
Now we’re back to normal however, we’ve seen a bounce back. In 2022 we produced 343,131 tonnes of CO2e, up almost 50,000 tonnes since 2021.
Unfortunately, we’re still a long way off the path to net zero.
Plymouth’s Progress to Net Zero
Plymouth Emissions Report 2025
See the report hereHow will we measure our wider progress?
We can also measure our progress in other ways that show how we’re travelling around the city and tell us whether more of us are walking, cycling, using public transport and switching our vehicles to electric or using a car club.
Plymouth’s green house gas monitoring report includes some of these metrics and work is underway to establish other baseline metrics.
Metrics include:
Active Travel Journeys
Percentage of journeys through active travel
Broadband Speeds
Proportion of City with access to min 25Mbps broadband speeds
Cycling Count
Amount of people riding instead of driving
Electric Vehicles (EV)
Total number of battery electric vehicles registered in Plymouth
Electric Vehicles (EV) Charging Points
Total number of EV charging points in Plymouth
Public Transport
Number of bus passenger journeys
Railway Station Footfall
Number of people using the railway as a means of transport
Travel Club Users
Number of active City Car Club and Beryl Bike users
Vehicle Miles
Total number of vehicle miles in Plymouth
Walking distance
Percentage of city homes within easy walking distance of key services and facilities
See what’s happening across the city
Projects